There's no shortage of nemeses for Tony Stark to wrestle with when "Iron Man 2" hits theaters next year -- and while Sam Rockwell's war profiteering villain Justin Hammer isn't as physically threatening as some of the film's other bad guys, he shouldn't be considered any less dangerous.

Speaking with MTV News about his character in the Jon Favreau-directed film, Rockwell confirmed what has long been assumed but has yet to be discussed at length—that the nefarious Hammer will not only share scenes with Mickey Rourke'sWhiplash character, but they'll actually join forces against Iron Man himself.

"The closest I can come to [describing our characters' relationship] is maybe Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in 'Young Frankenstein,' or Abbott and Costello," Rockwell half-kiddingly explained. "I'm sort of a fast-talking arms dealer and Mickey's a weapons maker, so he's a very dangerous man—he's been in the joint. And I've got the money. So we team up together to get [Stark]."

Reports of Rourke's vengeance quest against Robert Downey Jr.'s character have circulated since descriptions of the Comic-Con footage leaked; Whiplash clearly has his own personal reasons for going after Stark. As for Hammer, perhaps it's more of a business decision—making him even deadlier, possibly.

"We're kind of reinventing the character of Justin Hammer a little bit," he said. "I walked into a lot of comic book shops and even some comic book store owners didn't know who he was. So, it's not as much pressure as playing Iron Man obviously, that's like playing Elvis Presley or something. With Justin Hammer is a little more elbow room for interpretation."

What do you think of the alleged Rockwell-Rourke relationship? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!